The German Enigma Cipher Machine: Beginnings, Success, and Ultimate Failure (Artech House Computer Security) [Hardcover]

Brian J. Winkel (Author), Cipher Deavors (Author), David Kahn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 30, 2005 | ISBN-10: 1580539963 | ISBN-13: 978-1580539968

This new, one-of-a-kind volume contains original essays, historical and technical papers, and translations of historical materials and retrospectives concerning the German Enigma Cipher machine. You get a comprehensive view of the Enigma machine s development, uses, role in WWII Allied intelligence, and cryptanalysis. From The Commercial Enigma: Beginnings of Machine Cryptography and An Enigma Chronology to The Road to German Diplomatic Ciphers 1941 1945 and The Geheimschreiber , all the papers in this volume are reprints of classic articles that originally appeared in the pages of the distinguished journal, CRYPTOLOGIA. Moreover, the book contains over 100 technical reviews of materials related to Enigma ? materials that have led in the exposure of Enigma related issues over the 28 years of the journal s publication.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Brian J. Winkel, Cipher Deavors, David Kahn, and Louis Kruth are world-renowned cryptology experts and on the editorial board of CRYPTOLOGIA - a unique, scholarly journal devoted to all aspects of cryptology.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 439 pages
• Publisher: Artech House Print on Demand (March 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580539963
• ISBN-13: 978-1580539968
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #403,881 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #66 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Algorithms > Cryptography

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous Book, March 17, 2005

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The German Enigma Cipher Machine: Beginnings, Success, and Ultimate Failure (Artech House Computer Security) (Hardcover)

This is quite possibly the best book ever published or ever will be published on the Enigma machine. It is a collection of articles from the magazine Cryptologia. Cryptologia is a professional journal devoted to all aspects of cryptology. Down through the years they have published articles on Enigma written by the people who were there at the time and doing the code breaking, as well as by scholars who have specialized in either cryptology or the history of that aspect of World War II.

This book is a collection of articles from the magazine. Some of them:

- An Interview with Marian Rejewski, the lead Polish cryptologist who first broke the Enigma, built the Polish Bombe that allowed the British to read the Enigma trafic.

- An article by William P. Bundy, the commander of the Americans at Bletchley during World War II, subsequently worked for the CIA and Department of Defense.

- A bit over a hundred pages of the book reprint reviews of virtually every book published dealing with Enigma, codes, or intelligence during World War II.

- There is also a little bit on Magic, the breaking of the Japanese codes, particularily in respect to the distribution of information to Roosevelt.

- There are a few more tidbits about the American rotor encryption machine SIGABA - We are still waiting for the full story of this machine.

- A discussion on what the history of World War II would have been without ULTRA or MAGIC

The Enigma story is capsule in time. It was an electromechanical machine. In World War I the "electro" part wasn't developed well enough to enable it to have been built. Shortly after World War II the mechanical part was rendered obsolete by purely "electro" devices called computers. Using a modern PC to break Enigma would be a trivial exercise. And the encryption techniques used by modern programs like PGP would have been totally imposible to break with the equipment avaiable during World War II.

As I said at the beginning, this is a fabulous book. It's not going to be a #1 best seller (in fact Amazon lists its sales rank as #283,536), it's expensive, and it probably won't be in print all that long. If this is your kind of thing, get it quickly.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The definitive tome on the Enigma, August 1, 2005

By 

Ben Rothke "Author of 'Computer Security: 20 ... (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The German Enigma Cipher Machine: Beginnings, Success, and Ultimate Failure (Artech House Computer Security) (Hardcover)

In the world of information systems, software technologies are frequently obsolete within a decade, and hardware in less time than that. So a book about an 80-year-old cryptographic device would seem to be as useful as a maintenance guide for a Model T. There is much to learn in this fascinating account, however.

The German Enigma Cipher Machine is the story of one of the most notable pieces of security hardware ever made, an encoding device that looked like a small typewriter. The Germans used it, primarily during World War II, to send confidential communications. In their hubris, the Germans believed that the Enigma was utterly unbreakable and refused to believe otherwise even when their communiqués were being compromised. The Allied Powers were able to break the code after they acquired an Enigma machine and brought together a team of analysts from diverse countries to tease out its secrets.

That's the basic story. This book is a collection of various articles from a cryptology journal called Cryptologia. Chapters are written by those who created the Enigma, worked to crack it, or studied it afterwards. Though many of the chapters are highly technical, the book still has enough valuable information for readers without a deep background in encryption.

While the Enigma is dead and buried, the problems that doomed it-poor physical security, user error, and overreliance on the technology-are still relevant today. The Model T inventor's statement that "History is more or less bunk" to the contrary, Enigma provides lasting lessons.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A rare and interesting book, January 10, 2007

By 

Andrea Greco "andrea ita" (Rome, Italy) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The German Enigma Cipher Machine: Beginnings, Success, and Ultimate Failure (Artech House Computer Security) (Hardcover)

I read this authoritative book on enigma.Very very detailed, written by famous specialists on cryptology and codebreaking.I highly recommend this book,for those who are looking for an ultimate book on enigma cipher machine.